5 Phonics Activities to Boost Reading Development
Phonics activities are crucial in building reading development. Phonics instruction is crucial for primary-age children to become readers. Students learn to read and write when they understand the connection between sound and print, which is phonics. Below are several examples of how to use phonics activities for 1st grade to captivate and boost reading development in students.
Teaching Reading by Phonics
Phonics instruction is teaching students explicit rules on sound-to-print connection. This starts in Preschool and Kindergarten when students learn letter sounds in connection with print. The progression moves on to building constant vowel constant (cvc) words and continues from there.
When students know the sounds and have a strong understanding of how to blend these sound (phonemic awareness) this is when they become readers. Knowing the alphabet letter sounds helps students to easily decode words.
Teaching phonics follows a progression from letter sounds, cvc, blends, digraphs, final e words, long vowel teams, r-control words, diphthongs and c and g rule words. These phonics skills should be taught in this order with students moving on only after they have mastered the previous phonics skill. Read my blog post on the importance of teaching reading by phonics.
Engaging phonics activities for 1st grade
Phonics instruction should be taught explicitly in small group reading or whole class if everybody is at the same stage, which is rare. Students then practice and reinforce these skills through independent and partner work. Read my blog post here on why I ditched literacy centers for a Must Do May Do system. This is the system I use for our literacy time. Below is a list of phonics activities for 1st grade that are highly motivating, and engaging and build strong phonics skills.
Word sorts
Word sorts are phonics activities where students categorize and sort words based on phonic skills. For example, students learning digraphs could sort words by sh and ch sounds. This can be done with words and pictures. Word sorts are important because they help with visual and auditory discrimination.
Bingo
More great phonics activities to help reinforce phonic skills include the game of bingo. My students love this activity. In our small group guided reading time I explicitly teach 3 days in a row and then on the 4th day we review using more games such as bingo. I use a lot of games with movement during this time to review phonic skills. Bingo is one of our favorites.
Our bingo boards have 16 different words written out. I display an image and students need to read through words on their game boards to find the correct word. Presenting it this way is important because students practice reading 16 different words multiple times to find the correct bingo word each time. This gives multiple exposures to phonic skills and words in a really fun and engaging way. Our favorite thing to use is a paint dabber to cross/dab out the words. We always play for blackout and try to get all of the words covered.
Rhyming Games (Write the Room)
It is important to have strong rhyming ability, especially in early literacy. I have heard it said in professional development training that students who can easily rhyme are predicted readers. This is because they have strong phonemic awareness which is the precursor to phonics and an absolute must in becoming a fluent reader.
One of our favorite ways to practice rhyming is through a Write the Room activity. The teacher posts image cards throughout the classroom. Each image card contains two pictures. Some of these pictures rhyme and some of them do not. Students then go around with the recording sheet and identify words that rhyme and ones that do not. Click here to view this game for yourself.
Another fun rhyming activity is the game “I Have, Who Has” with rhyming words. Students build their rhyming skills in a variety of ways using this phonics activity. First, they have to identify words that rhyme and then they also have to create a rhyming word sets themselves. This supports all aspects of rhyming. We play this whole class during our morning meeting activity time and it’s a hit every time.
Puzzles
Phonics puzzles are another wonderful phonics activity. These puzzles can address any sort of phonics skill such as rhyming, identifying beginning, medial or ending sound, building CVC words, or building sentences. Using phonics puzzles is great for students because they are combining learning and kinesthetic movement which helps with retention and engagement.
Phonics Games – Roll, Say, Cover, Write, Win
A class favorite of mine is a game called Roll, Say, Cover, Write, Win. Students use a game board that is filled with different pictures all relating to a specific phonics skill. Students take turns rolling a dice and moving their game marker. Whichever picture they land on they then need to write on a recording sheet. This continues back and forth until all players have finished the game board. Roll, Say, Cover, Write, Win builds decoding (reading) and encoding (writing) practice all at the same time.
Why Reading Activities
Phonics activities should be engaging which doesn’t mean sitting at desks and performing pencil-paper work. First, pencil-paper work doesn’t boost engagement. Second, pencil-paper work only uses one approach to learning. Using more of a multi-sensory approach creates engagement and often better retention. Adding movement increases student engagement for phonics activities as well.
Promoting Literacy Development
Promoting a love of reading and building reading development in students is crucial to overall reading success. Below are a few more examples of phonics activities that promote literacy development.
Movement-Based Learning
Movement and learning have a powerful connection and I have experienced this firsthand with my daughter. She needs to move her body often, especially when learning. Therefore I created phonics games that add in extra movement to support her as a learner. Not only has this helped my daughter but all students in my class benefit from these phonics games as well.
Students take turns pulling cards and reading the word on the card. On the top right there is a symbol. Students find the matching symbol that is closest on their game board and move their game marker to that spot. The game is done when all students have moved all the way around the game board. Click here to grab these phonics games which include 32 games for easy differentiation covering all phonics skills K-2.
Stories
Reading stories aloud to students builds reading development through strengthening listening and comprehension. Stories often have rhyming and engaging plots. Students can easily connect with some characters as well. Make sure to incorporate time each day for students to read independently with books as well as be read to.
Parent and Teacher Phonics Tips
Supporting reading development for students by using phonics activities is crucial. Below are three tips to remember..
Consistency
Be consistent with how phonics instruction is delivered. Use a predictable model for you and the students so that they are familiar with the routine even when they are learning new phonics skills. This allows for students to better grasp new concepts because they’re not trying to learn new routines or procedures as well.
Individualize
Not all students learn to read at the same time and pace and that is absolutely okay. We need to be instructing students at the level they are at and not rush through phonics skills and standards. With that being said, individualize your phonics activities for 1st grade based on what phonics skills students are currently learning. Never rush students ahead because then we can create reading gaps.
Real-World Experience
Learning to read is important. We ultimately learn to read so we can better understand the world around us. Therefore, make sure to infuse as much real-world reading experience into your daily phonics practice as possible. This can be simple things such as reading environmental print (road signs, recess rules, posters in the hallway, signs at the public library, etc.).
The benefits of teaching phonics include students learning letter-to-sound correspondence, connecting sound to print, and learning English. This allows students to understand ‘why’ and ‘how’ words work the way they do. Since our brains are wired to find patterns, teaching phonics this way is extremely beneficial to reading development.
There is no one specific right way to use phonics activities for 1st grade in your classroom. I would encourage you to use a variety of ways to support phonics activities and find what works best for your class. Remember to incorporate phonics games, movement, reading stories, and designated reading time each day.
Are you ready to transform your K-2 Literacy time with a Must Do May Do system. The Must Do activities develop key literacy skills, while the May Do activities give students freedom and choice over enriching literacy activities. Say goodbye to teacher stress and student interruptions and disruptions and say hello to building confident young readers in a calm classroom. Click here or the image below to get started.
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